Once Upon A Time
by LadyIceCherry
Summary: "This isn't your average fairy tale. It's not a dream; it's a nightmare. Recollecting all of my past mistakes. Let's just hope we can stop it before it destroys our reality. Once Upon A Time... the words are a curse to me now." AU. Rated T
1. Prologue: Ella's Misfortune

**Prologue **

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

The clock has been working since the beginning of time. It keeps everything in motion; the seasons, the years and even the people. The clock was hidden away in a tower with other ancient items, far west of the kingdom. It was attended by the clock keeper who made sure that everything was in order. It stood tall in a hallway, along with the Book of Order that was set right beside it.'

It was time for the clock's daily checkup. It was midnight on a full moon. The tower keeper was dressed in a dark black cloak, holding a lantern which illuminated the dark hallway. Itf held pictures of the royal family and friends, and other very important people of the kingdom.

The tower keeper finally came to the huge, mahogany clock. Nothing was missing. Or so they thought. The cloaked figure looked closer at the item to discover that the most important part of the clock was missing. The hands. They gasped and ran over to a bird cage. Opening it a little, the called to a white dove, which landed on there outstretched wrist.

"Take this letter to the kingdom. Quickly." They whispered to the dove. It understood, and flew out one of the open windows….

* * *

The castle was a lovely place to be. It had everything you needed to be entertained; good music, delicious food and hospitable people. Everywhere you went, you got a smile. Except from the princess herself. Once, the princess used to love being in the company of others. Now, it seemed like all they did was bother her. Yet, she had still managed to keep her some of her friends.

Ella was sitting in the courtyard of the castle, with a bored looking expression on her face. Waiting for others was a terrible process, especially when they liked to take their time. If everything would go Ella's way, the kingdom would be "perfect" or so Ella says. Ella's childhood was rough, with her mother dead and her father running away from the castle.

Her guest today was her Godmother, the one who had practically raised her after her mother's death. Her step-mother, who didn't care for her at all, was hardly ever there. She was always wasting money on expensive vacations to other kingdoms. So Godmother took over.

"Godmother, what took you so long?" Ella said annoyed as Godmother sat down in her chair. Godmother sighed and took a cup of tea from the middle of the table. Ella waited for a response as Godmother got comfortable in the light blue colored lawn chair.

"I was with my Granddaughter. I was trying to teach her a spell and she took the whole roof off of the house." Godmother said chuckling.

Ella rolled her eyes. "Well, she was never the brightest person in the kingdom. It's useless to even try to teach that blonde bimbo. But it is a liable excuse."

Godmother's lips formed a tight line, but she didn't respond. Now, angering the princess meant instant execution. "Have you visited any of your friends in awhile? You haven't taken a stroll through the forest since last Christmas."

"Why would I want to? I absolutely hate animals." Ella said picking at her nails. "They just love to mess up."

In the distance, a white bird could be seen with a piece of paper tied around it's ankle. A messenger dove. It was common to see messenger birds flying around, but it was quite rare to see one coming towards the castle. Princess Ella had always requested to see a citizen in person if they had something to tell her.

The bird landed on the table, right in front of Godmother. The elderly middle aged woman untied the knot and opened the letter. She read it quietly as Ella watched.

"Oh dear." She gasped placing her hand over her heart. Ella sat up in her chair. "What happened?"

"The tower keeper is saying that the hands to the Clock were missing. Should we warn the citizens?"

"No, the dummy probably just missed something. Or maybe she needs an excuse to take a break from her responsibilities." Ella sighed and stood up from her chair. She stretched. "Tell the servants to get a horse ready for me. I'll e leaving in a couple of minutes to check out the problem."

"Shouldn't a guard go with you though? It's dangerous out there. Remember what happened to your cousin out there?" Godmother pointed out.

"My cousin was on the run," Ella said. "I'm stronger than that. Tell the chef to have some _brioche _prepared when I return."

This is the start of war…

* * *

**This actually took me quite awhile to right. If you can try and match the TDI Character with their Fantasy counterpart, you get a cookie!**

**This will be updated slowly. And I mean SLOWLY. Unless an idea pops up in my head….**

**Until next time!**

**REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 1: Snow Red

**Once Upon A Time**

**Chapter 1**

**~Snow/Red~**

* * *

It had been three weeks since Ella had left for the tower. In truth, she should have been back days ago, but nobody knew what was taking her long. Had she been staying with an out of town relative? That was unlikely; Ella hated the company, and being bothered. Any family member of her's probably would've avoided her in the first place. It was only logical to assume that she had gotten herself into some form of trouble. Godmother had gotten worried and sent out a search party for her. They never came back either. So she contacted the next available person. Snow.

Gwendolyn Snow was Ella's favorite cousin, even though they rarely saw each other. Gwen had short black hair, pale skin and piercing coal black eyes. She was never very girly and hated to wear dresses. She lived in her own castle a couple of miles away, with her Prince Charming, aka boyfriend, Trent. Marriage wasn't exactly the first thing on the young couple's minds. Gwen was just adjusting to the whole 'Queen' role, and they were only 17 to begin with. They decided on waiting one more year.

Gwen had received a messenger dove just that morning, and she was in a state of shock. It wasn't like Ella to just disappear like this. She always had stayed in the castle anyways, far away from anyone who could ever bother her. She also would have never allowed herself to get captured. So what had happened?

Gwen put the letter on her nightstand, and dismissed the dove from her room. She then pulled the covers over herself. Cold. It was just so cold all the time that it was unbearable. A hot cup of tea would've done her some good, but none of the servants were new here at the moment.

"This is so unusual." Gwen said to herself shaking her head. "The clock hands missing. It probably won't be long until the clock stops all together. And with Ella _gone_-"

Gwen shivered at the word. There was no way that her cousin could be gone. Who would do such a terrible thing? Gwen had a few good ideas, but there was no way any of those people could've possibly pulled it off so easily and well done. Gwen did give the props for going through the trouble of getting in the tower, which was a hard task by itself, and taking the most vital part of the clock. She would need to observe the situation more.

Gwen then did herself a huge favor by getting out of the bed. The soft, white carpet brushed under her feet as she stood up and stretched. She then straightened her hair a little and entered the vacant hallway. It was usually busier during this time of day. Gwen didn't worry about it one bit though, everybody was probably just getting ready for some top secret party that she didn't know about. The hallway was filled with wasn't very decorated; it just had red carpet and ocean blue walls. A couple of tables and vases were scattered here and there, nothing too exciting. Gwen had sworn she was going to get the at least some of the castle redone so it would be less drab, but decided against it when she had noticed how antique and primitive it was.

The banquet hall was just like the hallway: empty. Gwen leaned against the large window that looked across the entire lake. She sighed.

"Your Majesty! I didn't know you were up!" one of the maids said from across the room. "I'll make you breakfast right away!"

"Thanks." Gwen said. "Have your seen Trent around by any chance?"

"Oh, he's in his study. He didn't want towage you up though." the maid said, walking into the kitchen.

Gwen walked over to the large metal object that stood in the corner of the room. A phone; an extravagant piece of technology. Gwen received this as a gift from her good friends Sierra and Bridgette. She dialed three simple numbers:_ 253_; and put the earpiece to her ear.

"Hello?" A tired voice answered. "Gwen?"

"Bridgette! I have very important news for you." Gwen said quickly. "I don't know how much time we have left. Ella went missing."

"…..what?" Bridgette said in disbelief. "What happened?"

"Someone stole the hands from the clock. Exactly three weeks ago, Ella went to the West Tower to see what had happened. She hasn't been back since. Are the clocks still working in Wonderland?"

"I don't think so." Bridgette said. "My pocket watch isn't working anymore."

"We need to keep this conversation private. The last thing we need on our hands right now is out-of-control citizens."

"Understood. So when's the next time your visiting? I'm bored and I have nothing to do." Bridgette said changing the subject.

Gwen thought for a moment before answering. "I don't know, maybe this weekend if I have time."

"I might as well just invite the girls. We'll have a party," Bridgette said.

"As well as discuss what's going on." Gwen added. The maid put Gwen's breakfast on the table. There war scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon all hot an ready. Gwen said thank you and dismissed the maid.

"Okay, so this weekend?" Bridgette asked once again.

"This weekend."

Gwen hung up the phone and went to eat her breakfast.

* * *

Deep in the heart of the forest, a beautiful white horse trotted through with the rider on it's back. They slowly walked until they got to a small, cozy cottage which was surrounded by dozens of oak trees. The rider jumped off of the horse and brought it to the stable. They then entered the cottage.

The cottage was of good size; it had a basic stove and refrigerator (courtesy of Sierra) in the kitchen. In the dining room, it had a wooden table and two chairs. The living room had a bookcase and a comfortable looking couch and coffee table. It also had a mirror, a bathroom and a bedroom on the upper level.

From the refrigerator, the person took leftover dinner from the night before. As she was about to eat, a dark shadow past the front window. The rider went to inspect it, taking a red cloak with them. They went outside. Nothing was there.

_Must be my imagination, _Courtney thought to herself as she reentered the cottage. This time, a twig snapped. Courtney turned swiftly on her heel, looking for any intruders.

The sky was quickly consumed in a void of dark clouds, though this went unnoticed by Courtney. She could hear the sound of her own pocket watch stopping. She took the gold antique out of her pocket. 6:00 P.M. The same time it was thirty minutes ago. Courtney had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "The clock has never stopped before. Could it have-" She dismissed that thought right away. Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, she entered her cottage and slammed the door, locking it in the process.

* * *

**Here's the first official chapter!**

**I hope you enjoyed this one, it took me a long time to do this, especially with the style of writing I'm using for this.**

**Until next time!**


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